Complex Systems And Population Health

Currently, population health science is an integral part of global academic curricula. For over a century, the principles of the reductionist paradigm have guided population health curricula, training, research, and action. Researchers continue to draw upon these principles when theorizing, conceptualizing, designing studies, analyzing, and devising interventions to tackle complex population health problems. However, unresolved impasses in addressing pressing population health challenges have catalyzed calls for the integration of complex-systems-science-grounded approaches into population health science. Mounting evidence denotes that a complex systems paradigm can bring about dramatic, multipronged changes for education and training, and lead to innovative research, interventions, and policies. Despite the large and untapped promise of complex systems, the haphazard knowledge base from which academics, researchers, students, policymakers, and practitioners can draw has slowed their integration into the population health sciences. This volume fulfils this growing need by providing the knowledge base necessary to introduce a holistic complex systems paradigm in population health science. As such, it is the first comprehensive book in population health science that meaningfully integrates complex systems theory, methodology, modeling, computational simulation, and real-world applications, while incorporating current population health theoretical, methodological and analytical perspectives. It is intended as a programmatic primer across a broad spectrum of population health stakeholders: from university professors and graduate students, to researchers, policymakers, and practitioners.

"Currently, population health science is an integral part of academic curricula around the world. For over a century, the principles of the reductionist paradigm have guided population health curricula, training, research, and action. Researchers continue to draw upon these principles when theorizing, conceptualizing, designing studies, analyzing, and devising interventions to tackle complex population health problems. However, unresolved impasses in delineating and managing pressing population health challenges have catalyzed calls for the integration of complex-systems-science-grounded theoretical, methodological, and analytical approaches into population health science"--

"This book begins the process of unraveling some of the most 'wicked' problems in public health." - Tony Iton, MD, JD, MPH-The California Endowment Growing evidence indicates that no single factor-but a system of intertwined causes-explains why America's health is poorer than the health of other wealthy countries and why health inequities persist despite our efforts. Teasing apart the relationships between these many causes to find solutions has proven extraordinarily difficult. But now researchers are uncovering groundbreaking insights using computer-based systems science tools to simulate how these determinants come together to produce levels of population health and disparities and test new solutions. The culmination of over five years of work by experts from a more than a dozen disciplines, this book represents a bold step forward in identifying why some populations are healthy and others are not. Describing a series of studies that apply the techniques of systems science, it shows how these tools can be used to increase our understanding of the individual, group, and institutional factors that generate a wide range of health and social problems. Most importantly, it demonstrates the utility and power of these techniques to both wisely guide our understanding and help policy makers know what works. ... an intellectually courageous undertaking. It faces up to the reality of complexity in the social determinants of health. Its achievements and its documentation of difficulties will serve as a valuable foundation for the next generation of scientists and scholars who aim to understand the determinants of health and of health disparities." - Harvey V. Fineberg, MD, PhD, President, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and Former President, the Institute of Medicine ...goes beyond the search for a simplistic answer to health disparities and instead embraces the complexity. This is exactly what is needed if we are to improve population health and eliminate disparities." - Thomas A. LaVeist, PhD, Chairman, Department of Health Policy & Management, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University It is increasingly likely that in the non-distant future that population health policy will be fully informed by a coherent computational decision-support system that integrates data, analytics, systems modeling, forecasting, and cost-effectiveness. This book marks a serious movement toward that future." - Donald S. Burke, MD, Associate Vice Chancellor for Global Health, Dean, Graduate School of Public Health UPMC, Jonas Salk Professor of Global Health, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh Recent review of Growing Inequality by Interdisciplinary Association of Population Health Science (IAPHS): https: //iaphs.org/book-review-complex-systems-population-health-insights-network-inequality-complexity-health/

Reductionism at the dawn of population health / Kristin Heitman -- Wrong answers : when simple interpretations create complex problems / David S. Fink, Katherine M. Keyes -- Complexity : the evolution towards 21st century science / Anton Palma, David W. Lounsbury -- Systems thinking in population health research and policy / Stephen Mooney -- Generation of systems maps: mapping complex systems of population health / Helen de Pinho -- Systems dynamics model / Eric Lofgren -- Agent-based modeling / Brandon Marshall -- Microsimulation / Sanjay Basu -- Social network analysis : the ubiquity of social networks and their importance for population health / Douglas A. Luke, Amar Dhand, Bobbi J. Carothers -- Machine learning / James H. Faghmous -- Systems science and the social determinants of population health / David S. Fink, Katherine M. Keyes, Magdalena Cerdá -- Systems approaches to understanding how the environment influences population health and population health interventions / Melissa Tracy -- Systems of behavior and population health / Mark Orr, Kathryn Ziemer, Daniel Chen -- Systems under your skin / Karina Standahl Olsen, Hege Bøvelstad, Eiliv Lund -- Frontiers in health modeling / Nathaniel Osgood -- Systems science and population health / Abdulrahman M. El-Sayed, Sandro Galea

Complex Systems and Computation in Public Health Sciences is the first comprehensive book in population health science that meaningfully integrates complex systems theory, methodology, modeling, computational simulation, and real-world applications while incorporating current population health perspectives.

The history of public health has focused on direct relationships between problems and solutions: vaccinations against diseases, ad campaigns targeting risky behaviors. But the accelerating pace and mounting intricacies of our lives are challenging the field to find new scientific methods for studying community health. The complexities of place (COP) approach is emerging as one such promising method. Place and Health as Complex Systems demonstrates how COP works, making an empirical case for its use in for designing and implementing interventions. This brief resource reviews the defining characteristics of places as dynamic and evolving social systems, rigorously testing them as well as the COP approach itself. The study, of twenty communities within one county in the Midwest, combines case-based methods and complexity science to determine whether COP improves upon traditional statistical methods of public health research. Its conclusions reveal strengths and limitations of the approach, immediate possibilities for its use, and challenges regarding future research. Included in the coverage: Characteristics of places and the complexities of place approach. The Definitional Test of Complex Systems. Case-based modeling using the SACS toolkit. Methods, maps, and measures used in the study. Places as nodes within larger networks. Places as power-based conflicted negotiations. Place and Health as Complex Systems brings COP into greater prominence in public health research, and is also valuable to researchers in related fields such as demography, health geography, community health, urban planning, and epidemiology.

This book is an introduction to health care as a complex adaptive system, a system that feeds back on itself. The first section introduces systems and complexity theory from a science, historical, epistemological, and technical perspective, describing the principles and mathematics. Subsequent sections build on the health applications of systems science theory, from human physiology to medical decision making, population health and health services research. The aim of the book is to introduce and expand on important population health issues from a systems and complexity perspective, highlight current research developments and their implications for health care delivery, consider their ethical implications, and to suggest directions for and potential pitfalls in the future.

“The authors bring a passion for social justice, equity, and inclusivity to the dialogue about changing the unjust systems that create disparate population health outcomes.” ©Doody’s Review Service, 2022, Suzan C Ulrich, Dr.PH, MSN, MN, RN, CNM, FACNM (Resurrection University) Leading Systems Change in Public Health: A Field Guide for Practitioners is the first resource written by public health professionals for public health professionals on how to improve public health by utilizing a systems change lens. Edited by leaders from the de Beaumont Foundation and the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health with chapters written by a diverse array of public health leaders, the book provides an evidence-based framework with practical strategies, processes, and tools for enacting meaningful change. Complete with engaging stories and tips to illustrate concepts in action, this book is the essential guide for current and future public health leaders working within and across individual, interpersonal, organizational, cross-sector, and community levels. The book addresses subjects such as change leadership, health equity, racial justice, power sharing, and readiness for change. It addresses best practices for enacting change at different levels, including at the personal, interpersonal, organizational, and team or cross-sector level, while describing the factors, the processes, skills, and tools required for leading complex change. It not only covers the process of leading systems change but also the importance of community organizing and coalition building, identifying a shared understanding of the problem, how to leverage the lessons of implementation science, and how to understand the relationship between sustainability and public health. Practical examples and stories highlight challenges and opportunities, systems change in action, and the importance of crisis leadership – including lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. Key Features: Enables practitioners to improve public health by utilizing a systems change approach Applies systems change strategies to help discover solutions for improved community health equity and racial justice Integrates practical public health examples and stories from innovative leaders in the field Includes tools for how to implement internal processes that generate creative and effective system change leadership